LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Caltech Volleyball took on rival Occidental Tuesday night at Rush Gymnasium on the campus of Occidental College, with the Beavers taking two sets and pushing the match to a fifth in a SCIAC contest that featured 26 ties and 12 lead changes.
Caltech stayed in the match all night. In the opening set, the Beavers used a 6-1 run from 5-6 to 11-7 and led by as many as four points before the set went down to the wire. Caltech then won the second set 25-23, opening with a 5-0 run as freshman Melody Xue (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley) served four straight points, including two aces. The Beavers led by as many as six points, and after Occidental pulled even at 23-23, Caltech won the final two points, with a kill from sophomore Veda Chennupati (Collierville, Tenn. / Collierville High School) sealing the set.
Caltech forced a decisive fifth set with a 25-20 win in the fourth, using a 7-2 run from 4-3 to 11-5 and getting six kills from junior Noelle Wilkinson (Bentonville, Ark. / Thaden School), who hit .357 in the set. The Beavers led 10-8 in the fifth set and, trailing 10-13, pulled within one at 13-14 before Occidental closed it out, 15-13.
Wilkinson led the Beavers with 15 points and 13 kills while also recording an ace and two block assists. Senior Alize Bakker (Portland, Ore. / Westview) followed with 13.5 points on 10 kills, three aces and a block assist, and junior Stephanie Wallen (Miami, Fla. / Ransom Everglades) added 13 points on 10 kills, a solo block and four block assists while hitting a match-high .417. Senior Juniper Schwartzman (Galesburg, Ill. / Galesburg HS) totaled 12 points on six kills, two aces and a match-high three solo blocks to go with her two block assists. Xue served a match-high four aces, and the Beavers out-aced Occidental 10-5 as a team.
Head Coach Tom Gardner and the Beavers close out October at home, hosting the Whittier Poets on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 2 p.m.
Follow Caltech Women's Volleyball on GoCaltech.com and on Instagram. Watch all home and SCIAC matches live on FloCollege.
